Trail Mix: Romney in a bind

FROM Mitt Romney's "binders full of women" to Barack Obama's "gangbangers" the second presidential debate has generated plenty of reaction.

The more relaxed "town hall style" debate allowed both Mr Romney and Mr Obama to get out from behind the lecterns and into the ring. That is not just a metaphor. As Mr Romney challenged Mr Obama on energy policy, the former Massachusetts governor came towards his opponent like a prized fighter.

For a moment the audience held its breath as it appeared that a Normie Rowe-Ron Casey punch-on could be imminent. But Mr Romney was not facing the same weakened Mr Obama that we saw two weeks ago. This debate showcased Obama 2.0 - a more aggressive, steelier version of the man who was widely considered to have lost his first bout with the Mormon Mauler.

Reaction overnight indicated that Mr Obama had squared the debate series at 1-1 with the decider to be held next week. CNN declared the debate a narrow win for Mr Obama, Microsoft (which used real time polling questions through its Xbox 360 during the debate) also found Mr Obama had won over more undecided/swing voters.

Just as Big Bird became an internet sensation after the first debate, Mr Romney's "binders full of women" comment was quickly trending on Twitter and has already spawned a flood of internet memes. Twitter recorded more than 7.2 million tweets during the debate, down from 10 million in the first debate but enough to start certain topics trending.

Mr Romney says he was trying to point out that when he was governor he asked women's groups to find him qualified females for his cabinet and they brought him "binders full of women."

Mr Obama's campaign staffers had perhaps seen Julia Gillard's attack on Tony Abbott because they were quick to jump on the comment as evidence that Mr Romney has a condescending attitude towards women.

As Mr Romney continued his broader point about the Obama Administration being "anti-women" on the hustings in Virginia overnight, his running mate Paul Ryan tried to explain what he meant by his binders full of women remark.

Overnight, CNN's Candy Crowley was also forced to defend her interjection during the debate when she rebutted Mr Romney's suggestion that Mr Obama had not immediately called the attack on the US consulate in Libya an act of terror.

The fact that she also allowed Mr Obama four minutes longer to speak than Mr Romney means she is unlikely to appear on the Christmas card lists of many Republicans.

Mr Obama's comments didn't escape without a few giggles either, particular when he declared a war on "gangbangers". To an Australian's ear you would be forgiven for wondering if Mr Obama had just thrown away votes in all those 'swinging states' that he needs to win. But the term in America actually refers to immigrants who come to the US and form violent street gangs. Regardless of the interpretation, "gangbangers" has also been trending.

The president spent the day in Iowa overnight, one of the aforementioned swing states, hammering home his point that Mr Romney's five-point plan was a "sketchy deal"

He joked that he was starting to find his feet at debating after his first round knockout.

"I am still working out to get the hang of his thing, debating, but we are working on it, we will keep on improving. I have got one left," he said.

A Gallup poll released overnight shows that Mr Romney is up six points among likely voters, while a Marquette University of liberal Wisconsin, showed Mr Obama up by only a single point. Neither poll included data reflecting the impact of Tuesday's debate.

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